Method of continuous production of rods, tubes, and the like



June 19, 1956 c. N. JACOBS ET AL METHOD OF CONTINU OF RODS, TUBE2,751,320 005 PRODUCTION AND THE LIKE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 16,1953 FIG. 39

INVENTO CLIFTON N. JACOBS 8: GEORGE H. HOPKINS FIG. 2.

ATTORNEY Jun 19. 1956 c. N. JACOBS ET AL 2,751,320

METHOD OF CONTINUOUS PRODUCTION OF RODS, TUBE AND THE LIKE 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 16, 1953 INVENTORS. JACOBS FIG. 3.

CLIFTON N. S-SEORGE H. HOPKINS M Wk ATTORNEYS METHOD OF CONTINUOUSPRODUCTION OF RODS, TUBES, AND THE LIKE Clifton N. Jacobs, Norristown,and George H. Hopkins, Phoenixville, Pa., assignors to Taylor Fibre Co.,Norristown, Pa., a corporation of Delaware Application February 16,1953, Serial No. 336,984 Claims. (Cl. 154-91) This invention relates toa method of continuous production of rods, tubes, fiat or curved sheetsor other sections formed of a multiplicity of strands of material whichhave been bonded together. The strands of material may be in variousforms. For example, they may be in the form of single fibers orfilaments or may be in the form of threads composed of groups of fibersor filaments spun or in mat form. The strands may also be in the form ofwoven or knitted strands forming fabrics, tapes, tubes or the like.

It is an object of the invention to provide a method whereby a pluralityof strands of material as noted above are impregnated and/or coated witha resinous or other suitable type of binding material and then broughttogether through a forming orifice or a succession of forming orificesand suitably shaped and sized in their passage through the orifices toproduce a resultant composite member of desired section which thereaftersolidifies at a suitable temperature. The shape of the section producedwill be dependent upon the contour of the forming orifice or orificesthrough which the grouped impregnated and/or coated strands are drawn.

This and other objects of the invention will become apparent from thefollowing description when read in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Figure l is an elevation partly in section showing one form of apparatusemploying the present invention;

Figure 2 is a transverse section taken on the trace 22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary showing of an alternate form of apparatusemploying the present invention; and.

Figure 4 is a top view of the apparatus shown in Figure 3.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2 there is shown an apparatus for carryingout the present invention. The apparatus includes a suitable mountingplate or support member 2 in which there is rotatably mounted a shaft 4.The shaft 4 extends downwardly out of the mounting plate 2 and supportsa horizontal plate 6. Suspended from the horizontal plate 6 are framemembers 8. A reservoir 10 is supported by the lower ends of the framemembers 8. The entire assembly is rotated by means of a motor 14 whichis adapted to drive a pulley 16 connected by means of a belt 18 to apulley 20 rigidly mounted on the shaft 4.

Supported below the rotatable plate 6 are a plurality of spools 22 eachof which is wound with strands of material which are to be broughttogether to form a solid member 34. The strands 24 are drawn from thespools 22 and are each passed through a suitably formed orifice member26. Each of the orifice members contains a bore 26' of suitable size andshape to permit the passage therethrough of the strands and a coating onthe strands of the liquid material 12 contained within the reservoir 10of such thickness as may be desired.

It will be evident from Figure 2 that a multiplicity of strands areemployed in forming the finished member. In Figure 1 there is shown onlyone row of the orifice members 26 and the strands extending therethroughin order to avoid unduly complicating the showing,

nited States Patent The strands27 being drawn out of the orifice membersare passed through a succession of forming dies 28 and 30 which serve tocompress the strands together causing the coatings thereon to becomeintimately engaged with one another and to form the solid member 34. Therod 34 is drawn under continuous tension in the direction indicated bythe arrow 36 by means of drawing apparatus indicated by the block 39.This apparatus may be in the form of driving rollers or of. a memberwhich is adapted to be clamped to the rod 34 and moved therewith.Numerous types of apparatus are well known to the art as being adaptedto be employed for this purpose.

The formed section 34 being drawn out of the forming dies 28 and 39 bythe drawing apparatus 39 passes through heating apparatus indicated at38' immediately upon its passage through the last forming die. There arenumerous types of heating apparatus well known in the art suitable forthe purpose required. For example, banks of heating lamps may beemployed or, alternately, a steam heated chamber may be employed. Insome instances, electrical heating elements could provide in eifect aheated oven through which the formed strands may be drawn. The heatrequired would be that to cause solidification or polymerization of theparticular binding material employed and the length. of the oven wouldbe dependent upon the rate at which the formed material were drawnthrough the oven and the time required for hardening or polymerizationto occur.

It should be noted that while a solid member is indicated in Figure 1 asbeing drawn in the form of a rod it will be evident that by properlyshaping the forming dies 28 and 30 almost any section can be produced.As noted above this section may be in the form of flat or curved sheetsor of wedge shaped sheets, or any other desirable section. If thesection being formed is, for example, a flat sheet, the reservoir willbe held stationary and the pattern of strands passing through thereservoir will be selected with regard to the pattern of strandsultimately desired to be passing through the forming dies.

It should be noted that while the strands shown in Figures 1 and 2 aregenerally circular and the bores 26 in the orifice members are alsocircular these strands and bores may be variously shaped to accommodatevarious shapes and sizes of strands such as indicated above as beingemployable. It isadditionally noted that while a reservoir and orificemembers are shown in the drawings as a means for impregnating and/orcoating the strands with a plastic material, numerous other methods ofimpregnating and/or coating may be used. For example, the strands couldbe carried over rollers and dipped into the tank. Alternately, thebinding material could be sprayed onto the strands in some instances asthe strands approach the first forming die. It will be evident that theinvention should not be limited to the specific arrangement shown forimpregnating and/ or coating the strands,

An alternate application of the invention is shown in Figures 3 and 4 inwhich there are employed annular reservoirs 40 and 42 in concentricarrangement. The reservoirs each contain a bath 43 of resinous or othersuitable material which is to act as a binding material for the finishedarticle. The lower surfaces of the reservoirs 4i) and 42 are providedwith orifice members 44 and 46, respectively. The shape and size ofthese orifice members are selected to be such as to provide on thestrands drawn therethrough the desired thickness of binding material.The concentric annular reservoirs 40 and 42 are provided with suitablemounting means, not shown, and conventional driving means to provide forrotation of the reservoirs 40 and 42 in the directions as indicated bythe arrows 49 and 5 1 in Figure 4. In this application of the inventionthere is also provided a central rod 48. This rod may be rotatable butis preferably held stationary while the annular reservoirs rotatetherearound.

Individual strands 50 are fed through the reservoir 40 and the orificemembers 44 thereof. Individual strands 52 are fed through the reservoir42 and the orifice members 46 thereof. These strands are drawn throughthe orifice members as indicated at 54 and 56, respectively, and aredrawn through the successive forming dies 58 and 60 which serve tocompact or compress the coated and/or impregnated strands in order toform the tube 66. The strands which are moving in annular paths as theyare drawn through the orifice members are deposited in generally spiralform over the stationary rod 48. It will be evident that the outerfibers 54 will be spiralling in the opposite direction from the spiralof the inner fibers 56. When the spiralled threads are drawn through thesecond forming die 60, they will be sufficiently compacted and ofsuitable form that the supporting rod 48 may be terminated as indicatedat 64. It will be evident, however, that the length of the extension ofthe rod 48 into the finished tube may be arbitrarily selected dependingupon the rate of solidification of the binding material.

After the finished article is drawn through the forming dies shown inFigure 3, it may be subjected to heat treatment in the same manner asthe member described in connection with Figure l in order to provide forsetting or polymerization of the binding material. The formed memberwill be drawn through the dies and through the heating means by suitabledrawing apparatus similar to that described in connection with Figure 1.

In this latter form of the invention as well as in the former form ofthe invention, the wall thickness of the finished product will dependupon the thickness of the individual strands, the number of strandsemployed, the thickness of the coating of binding material permitted toremain on the strands when in final form and the degree of spiralingetfected among the strands in the finished product. This amount ordegree of spiralling of the strands in the final product will, ofcourse, be dependent upon the relative rate of rotation of the reservoiror reservoirs and the rate of travel of the finished article, the rod orthe tube in the illustrations shown.

While the apparatus described is suitable for producing either a solidor a hollow round section, numerous other sections may be produced bythe invention set forth. As noted above, the strands in any particularsection desired may be either individual fibers or pluralities ofindividual fibers spun and/ or knitted or woven which may be eithermerely coated with a suitable binding material or may be impregnatedwith the binding material. The binding material may be liquid resins orother materials suitably employed for their adhesive or cohesiveproperties with respect to the particular composition of the strandsemployed. Thermosetting resins may be applied with the application ofheat after shaping to efiect setting, or resinous or other materials maybe applied dissolved or suspended in volatile liquids which may beevaporated by the application of heat after completion of shaping. Itwill be evident that the resins used may vary widely and that theinvention is of broad applicability. Forming dies may be selected toproduce any desired final external form and various internal shapingmembers may be substituted in place of the round rod 48 shown in Figure3.

Various types of materials may be employed to provide the strands. Thesemay be materials such as glass, synthetic fibers, vegetable fibers,animal fibers and others. Flexible tubing and other sections may beproduced if the resin used is formulated for flexibility.

It will further be evident that a final rod or tubing may he arrived atin successive steps. For example, a thin walled tube may be first formedas in Figure 3, then such tube may be fed through a second similarapparatus in the position of the central rod 48 to have wound thereon anadditional layer of coated strands, and so on. In this fashion acomposite rod or tube may be produced having difierent resins or strandsincorporated in annular layers.

It will be evident that extended lengths of numerous sections may beproduced by the method disclosed. The sections may be drawn to a desiredlength and then cut by suitable means such as shears and cutting wheelsor other means well known to the art. It will also be evident thatvarious modifications may be made to the embodiment of the inventiondescribed herein without departing from the scope of the invention asset forth in the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. The method of producing an extended member comprising applyingbinding material to a plurality of strands of material, drawing thestrands carrying applied material through a forming die to form thestrands into a member of desired shape composed of the material of thestrands and binding material, solidifying the binding material in themember to retain the strands in the form in which they are arranged intheir passage through the forming die, and providing a relative rotationbetween the portion of the plurality of strands to which the bind ingmaterial is being applied and the member leaving the drawing die.

2. The method of producing an extended member comprising applyingbinding material to two concentrically arranged groups of strands ofmaterial, drawing the strands carrying the applied material through aforming die and around a member disposed within the forming die andfixed against longitudinal movement through the die with the strandsbeing formed to form the strands into a hollow member of desired shapecomposed of the material of the strands and the binding material,solidifying the binding material in the hollow member to retain thestrands in the form in which they are arranged in their passage throughthe forming die, and providing relative rotation between the twoconcentrically arranged groups of strands as they approach the formingdie.

3. The method of producing an extended member comprising drawing aplurality of strands of material through two concentrically arrangedannular baths of binding material, drawing the strands through a formingdie after they leave the baths and around a member disposed within theforming die and fixed against longitudinal movement through the die withthe strands being formed to form the strands into a hollow member ofdesired shape composed of the material of the strands and bindingmaterial carried out of the bath therewith, solidifying the bindingmaterial in the hollow member to retain the strands in the form in whichthey are arranged in their passage through the forming die, andproviding relative rotation between the strands being drawn through eachof the two concentrically arranged annular baths.

4. The method of producing an extended member comprising drawing aplurality of individual strands of material under continuous tensionsuccessively through a bath of binding material, out of the bath andthereafter through a forming die while bringing the strands together ina gaseous medium to form the strands into a member of desired shapecomposed of the material of the strands and binding material carried outof the bath therewith, and through means inducing solidification of thebinding material in the formed member to retain the strands in the formin which they are arranged as they are drawn through the forming die,the formed member being drawn with substantially no deflection after itleaves the forming die until after the binding material has solidified.

5. The method of producing an extended member comprising applyingbinding material to a plurality of strands of material, drawing thestrands carrying the applied material through a forming die and around amember disposed within the forming die and fixed against longitudinalmovement through the die with the strands being formed to form thestrands into a hollow member of desired shape composed of the materialof the strands and the binding material, and solidifying the bindingmaterial in the hollow member to retain the strands in the form in whichthey are arranged in their passage through FOREIGN PATENTS the formingdie and around the fixed member- 92 11 France Mar. 29 1944 ReferencesCited in the file of this patent 627255 Great Bntam 1949 UNITED STATESPATENTS 5 2,159,091 Kopitke May 23, 1939 2,571,717 Howald et a1 Oct. 16,1951 2,680,469 Ahier et a1. June 8, 1954

5. THE METHOD OF PRODUCING AN EXTENDED MEMBER COMPRISING APPLYINGBINDING MATERIAL TO A PLURALITY OF STRANDS OF MATERIAL, DRAWING THESTRANDS CARRYING THE APPLIED MATERIAL THROUGH A FORMING DIE AND AROUND AMEMBER DISPOSED WITHIN THE FORMING DIE AND FIXED AGAINST LONGITUDINALMOVEMENT THROUGH THE DIE WITH THE STRANDS BEING FORMED TO FORM THESTRANDS INTO A HOLLOW MEMBER OF DESIRED SHAPE COMPOSED OF THE MATERIALOF THE STRANDS AND THE BINDING MATERIAL, AND SOLIDIFYING THE BINDINGMATERIAL IN THE HOLLOW MEMBER TO RETAIN THE STRANDS IN THE FORM IN WHICHTHEY ARE ARRANGED IN THEIR PASSAGE THROUGH THE FORMING DIE AND AROUNDTHE FIXED MEMBER.